But it turns out that early swimmers are particularly courteous. When I swim during other peak times, people tend to bury their heads and swim down the middle of their lanes—ignoring you even if you’re kicking and splashing for their attention. And asking to squeeze in is akin to asking for their secondborn.
The people swimming in the three marked lanes this morning (the rest of the pool is open; it was full too), however, split to one side or the other of their lanes as soon as I showed up on the deck. Ahh, some faith in humanity!
I hopped in with a pretty good swimmer dude and did the following 4,200-yard workout:
Not only was it nice to swim among so many people for the wake (if I’m going to open-water swim, I need to get used to wake), I had pacers and competitors galore. As I mentioned, the guy in my lane was a strong swimmer. I didn’t talk to him much, but we did plenty of swim-dueling during my 1,000-yard warm up. Maybe it was just me.1,000 yards free pull warm-up
8 x 150 yards alternating:
· 4 x 150 yards free (counting strokes)
· 4 x 100 yards free sprint, 50 yards backstroke
12 x 75 yards alternating:
· 6 x 75 yards free
· 6 x 75 yards IM order
8 x 50 yards IM order
200 yards reverse IM
500 yards free cool down
This may be the weather talking, but early morning workouts aren’t remotely as painful as I had imagined. Don’t remind me I said that in December. Not only did I get my swimming done before the day even began, but I had plenty of time to get a full swim without the pressure of getting back from lunch or getting home before my evening was lost.
Two hours was more than enough to swim, shower, dress and make it to work. I guess I’m just fortunate that the pool is five minutes from my office. Now, if only I could get there before the crowd.
